30/07/2002

Commons Committee calls for banking probe

A House of Commons Treasury Committee has hit out at the UK banks over the difficulty consumers have in understanding credit card interest rate charges.

MPs urged an official probe into the small business market after a Cambridge University mathematics professor, who was asked to investigate one deal, took most of an afternoon to calculate the annual interest rate.

The all-party committee also called for action to be taken in the banking market for smaller companies, over fears that the 'Big Four' UK banks, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland, operated a joint monopoly.

The committee said it was also concerned that comprehending deals required "an unreasonable amount of time and effort".

The Competition Commission last year warned of a "complex monopoly" operated by the 'Big Four'.

(MB)

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